Wagering game with superimposed images for highlighting gaming information

ABSTRACT

A gaming machine is provided that has a wager-input device for receiving a wager from a player to play a wagering game. The wagering game includes a basic game and a bonus game. A display initially displays first indicia of the basic game. The first indicia indicate a randomly selected outcome selected from a plurality of outcomes. Second indicia of the bonus game are incrementally superimposed on the first indicia on the display in response to the randomly selected outcome including a bonus-game-triggering event.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of pending U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/215,051, filed Aug. 30, 2005.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdisclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patentfiles or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to gaming machines, and methodsfor playing wagering games, and more particularly, to a gaming machinefor implementing a wagering game having a bonus feature forsuperimposing bonus feature images on top of a basic wagering game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and thelike, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years.Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent onthe likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machineand the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to otheravailable gaming options. Where the available gaming options include anumber of competing machines and the expectation of winning at eachmachine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players arelikely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines.Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining andexciting machines, features, and enhancements available because suchmachines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to theoperator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machinemanufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gamingenhancements that will attract frequent play through enhancedentertainment value to the player.

One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance theentertainment value of a game is the concept of a “secondary” or “bonus”game that may be played in conjunction with a “basic” game. The bonusgame may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completelydifferent from the basic game, which is entered upon the occurrence of aselected event or outcome in the basic game. Generally, bonus gamesprovide a greater expectation of winning than the basic game and mayalso be accompanied with more attractive or unusual video displaysand/or audio. Bonus games may additionally award players with“progressive jackpot” awards that are funded, at least in part, by apercentage of coin-in from the gaming machine or a plurality ofparticipating gaming machines. Because the bonus game concept offerstremendous advantages in player appeal and excitement relative to otherknown games, and because such games are attractive to both players andoperators, there is a continuing need to develop gaming machines withnew types of bonus games to satisfy the demands of players and operators

However, many of the wagering games in the art are displayed on adifferent display than that on which the basic game is displayed.Accordingly, a relatively large and expensive gaming terminal isrequired that has space for two displays. There are other wagering gamesbeing used in the art that completely fade out the basic game and thendisplay the bonus game on the same display on which the basic game hadbeen displayed. However, the bonus game is displayed only after thebasic game has completely faded and is no longer being displayed. Inadditional wagering games, the bonus game and the basic game are bothdisplayed on the same display and the elements from the basic game aredisplayed (e.g., the reels) during the bonus game, but the varioussymbols within the bonus game are changed from what they were during thebasic game (e.g., the symbols displayed on the reels).

Wagering games need to include additional features that will maintainthe player's interest and enhance entertainment. The present inventionis directed to satisfying this and other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, a gaming machine isprovided that has a wager-input device for receiving a wager from aplayer to play a wagering game. The wagering game includes a basic gameand a bonus game. A display initially displays first indicia of thebasic game. The first indicia indicate a randomly selected outcomeselected from a plurality of outcomes. Second indicia of the bonus gameare incrementally superimposed on the first indicia on the display inresponse to the randomly selected outcome including abonus-game-triggering event.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of conducting awagering game on a gaming machine includes receiving a wager from aplayer to play the wagering game. The wagering game includes a basicgame and a bonus game. First indicia of the basic game are initiallydisplayed. The first indicia indicate a randomly selected outcomeselected from a plurality of outcomes. Second indicia of the bonus gameare incrementally superimposed on the first indicia on the display suchthat at least some of the first indicia are visible in response to abonus-game-triggering event being achieved.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a gaming system forplaying a wagering game is provided that has at least one display. Acontroller is coupled to the display and is programmed to cause thedisplay to initially display first images of a basic game. The firstimages indicate a randomly selected outcome selected from a plurality ofoutcomes. Second images of a bonus game are incrementally displayed, thefirst images are dimmed, and the second images are overlaid over thefirst images, in response to a bonus-game-triggering-event. The secondimages are brighter than the first set of images.

Additional aspects of the invention will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of variousembodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a briefdescription of which is provided below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gaming machine embodying the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system suitable for operating thegaming machine;

FIGS. 3A-3F illustrate various game screens displayed on the primarydisplay for a wagering game according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an embodiment of the invention where theplayer may change the appearance of the basic game screen shown on theprimary display according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate another embodiment of the invention where theplayer may change the logo banner of the wagering game according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broadaspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 1, a gaming machine 10 is used in gamingestablishments such as casinos. With regard to the present invention,the gaming machine 10 may be any type of gaming machine and may havevarying structures and methods of operation. For example, the gamingmachine 10 may be an electromechanical gaming machine configured to playmechanical slots, or it may be an electronic gaming machine configuredto play a video casino game, such as blackjack, slots, keno, poker,roulette, etc.

The gaming machine 10 comprises a housing 12 and includes input devices,including a value input device 18 and a player input device 24. Foroutput the gaming machine 10 includes a primary display 14 fordisplaying information about the basic wagering game. The primarydisplay 14 can also display information about a bonus wagering game anda progressive wagering game. The gaming machine 10 may also include asecondary display 16 for displaying game events, game outcomes, and/orsignage information. While these typical components found in the gamingmachine 10 are described below, it should be understood that numerousother elements may exist and may be used in any number of combinationsto create various forms of a gaming machine 10.

The value input device 18 may be provided in many forms, individually orin combination, and is preferably located on the front of the housing12. The value input device 18 receives currency and/or credits that areinserted by a player. The value input device 18 may include a coinacceptor 20 for receiving coin currency (see FIG. 1). Alternatively, orin addition, the value input device 18 may include a bill acceptor 22for receiving paper currency. Furthermore, the value input device 18 mayinclude a ticket reader, or barcode scanner, for reading informationstored on a credit ticket, a card, or other tangible portable creditstorage device. The credit ticket or card may also authorize access to acentral account, which can transfer money to the gaming machine 10.

The player input device 24 comprises a plurality of push-buttons 26 on abutton panel for operating the gaming machine 10. In addition, oralternatively, the player input device 24 may comprise a touch screen 28mounted by adhesive, tape, or the like over the primary display 14and/or secondary display 16. The touch screen 28 contains soft touchkeys 30 denoted by graphics on the underlying primary display 14 andused to operate the gaming machine 10. The touch screen 28 providesplayers with an alternative method of input. A player enables a desiredfunction either by touching the touch screen 28 at an appropriate touchkey 30 or by pressing an appropriate push-button 26 on the button panel.The touch keys 30 may be used to implement the same functions aspush-buttons 26. Alternatively, the push-buttons 26 may provide inputsfor one aspect of the operating the game, while the touch keys 30 mayallow for input needed for another aspect of the game.

The various components of the gaming machine 10 may be connecteddirectly to, or contained within, the housing 12, as seen in FIG. 1, ormay be located outboard of the housing 12 and connected to the housing12 via a variety of different wired or wireless connection methods.Thus, the gaming machine 10 comprises these components whether housed inthe housing 12, or outboard of the housing 12 and connected remotely.

The operation of the basic wagering game is displayed to the player onthe primary display 14. The primary display 14 can also display thebonus game associated with the basic wagering game. The primary display14 may take the form of a cathode ray tube (CRT), a high resolution LCD,a plasma display, an LED, or any other type of display suitable for usein the gaming machine 10. As shown, the primary display 14 includes thetouch screen 28 overlaying the entire monitor (or a portion thereof) toallow players to make game-related selections. Alternatively, theprimary display 14 of the gaming machine 10 may include a number ofmechanical reels to display the outcome in visual associated to at leastone payline 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the gaming machine 10 isan “upright” version in which the primary display 14 is orientedvertically relative to the player. Alternatively, the gaming machine maybe a “slant-top” version in which the primary display 14 is slanted atabout a thirty-degree angle toward the player of the gaming machine 10.

A player begins play of the basic wagering game by making a wager viathe value input device 18 of the gaming machine 10. A player can selectplay by using the player input device 24, via the buttons 26 or thetouch screen keys 30. The basic game consists of a plurality of symbolsarranged in an array, and includes at least one payline 32 thatindicates one or more outcomes of the basic game. Such outcomes arerandomly selected in response to the wagering input by the player. Atleast one of the plurality of randomly-selected outcomes may be astart-bonus outcome, which can include any variations of symbols orsymbol combinations triggering a bonus game.

In some embodiments, the gaming machine 10 may also include a playerinformation reader 52 that allows for identification of a player byreading a card with information indicating his or her true identity. Theplayer information reader 52 is shown in FIG. 1 as a card reader, butmay take on many forms including a ticket reader, bar code scanner, RFIDtransceiver or computer readable storage medium interface. Currently,identification is generally used by casinos for rewarding certainplayers with complimentary services or special offers. For example, aplayer may be enrolled in the gaming establishment's loyalty club andmay be awarded certain complimentary services as that player collectspoints in his or her player-tracking account. The player inserts his orher card into the player information reader 52, which allows thecasino's computers to register that player's wagering at the gamingmachine 10. The gaming machine 10 may use the secondary display 16 orother dedicated player-tracking display for providing the player withinformation about his or her account or other player-specificinformation. Also, in some embodiments, the information reader 52 may beused to restore game assets that the player achieved and saved during aprevious game session.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the various components of the gaming machine 10are controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 34, also referred toherein as a controller or processor (such as a microcontroller ormicroprocessor). To provide gaming functions, the controller 34 executesone or more game programs stored in a computer readable storage medium,in the form of memory 36. The controller 34 performs the randomselection (using a random number generator (RNG)) of an outcome from theplurality of possible outcomes of the wagering game. Alternatively, therandom event may be determined at a remote controller. The remotecontroller may use either an RNG or pooling scheme for its centraldetermination of a game outcome. It should be appreciated that thecontroller 34 may include one or more microprocessors, including but notlimited to a master processor, a slave processor, and a secondary orparallel processor.

The controller 34 is also coupled to the system memory 36 and amoney/credit detector 38. The system memory 36 may comprise a volatilememory (e.g., a random-access memory (RAM)) and a non-volatile memory(e.g., an EEPROM). The system memory 36 may include multiple RAM andmultiple program memories. The money/credit detector 38 signals theprocessor that money and/or credits have been input via the value inputdevice 18. Preferably, these components are located within the housing12 of the gaming machine 10. However, as explained above, thesecomponents may be located outboard of the housing 12 and connected tothe remainder of the components of the gaming machine 10 via a varietyof different wired or wireless connection methods.

As seen in FIG. 2, the controller 34 is also connected to, and controls,the primary display 14, the player input device 24, and a payoffmechanism 40. The payoff mechanism 40 is operable in response toinstructions from the controller 34 to award a payoff to the player inresponse to certain winning outcomes that might occur in the basic gameor the bonus game(s). The payoff may be provided in the form of points,bills, tickets, coupons, cards, etc. For example, in FIG. 1, the payoffmechanism 40 includes both a ticket printer 42 and a coin outlet 44.However, any of a variety of payoff mechanisms 40 well known in the artmay be implemented, including cards, coins, tickets, smartcards, cash,etc. The payoff amounts distributed by the payoff mechanism 40 aredetermined by one or more pay tables stored in the system memory 36.

Communications between the controller 34 and both the peripheralcomponents of the gaming machine 10 and external systems 50 occurthrough input/output (I/O) circuits 46, 48. More specifically, thecontroller 34 controls and receives inputs from the peripheralcomponents of the gaming machine 10 through the input/output circuits46. Further, the controller 34 communicates with the external systems 50via the I/O circuits 48 and a communication path (e.g., serial,parallel, IR, RC, 10 bT, etc.). The external systems 50 may include agaming network, other gaming machines, a gaming server, communicationshardware, or a variety of other interfaced systems or components.Although the I/O circuits 46, 48 may be shown as a single block, itshould be appreciated that each of the I/O circuits 46, 48 may include anumber of different types of I/O circuits.

Controller 34, as used herein, comprises any combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware that may be disposed or resident inside and/oroutside of the gaming machine 10 that may communicate with and/orcontrol the transfer of data between the gaming machine 10 and a bus,another computer, processor, or device and/or a service and/or anetwork. The controller 34 may comprise one or more controllers orprocessors. In FIG. 2, the controller 34 in the gaming machine 10 isdepicted as comprising a CPU, but the controller 34 may alternativelycomprise a CPU in combination with other components, such as the I/Ocircuits 46, 48 and the system memory 36.

A wagering game according to an embodiment of the present inventionsuperimposes a bonus game or bonus features on top of the elements of abasic game. For example, when a bonus game has been triggered during thebasic game, the elements of the bonus game are subsequently displayed ontop of (i.e., superimposed) the elements of the basic game on theprimary display 14, as discussed below with respect to FIGS. 3A-3G. Thebonus game may include several features or portions, and the features orportions may be incrementally or successively displayed on top of theelements of the basic game, giving the player the feel as though thebonus game is being built or constructed on top of the elements of thebasic game. When the bonus game is displayed, the color of the elementsthat were displayed during the basic game may be dimmed or faded, sothat the elements of the bonus game are more clearly distinguishablefrom those of the basic game.

Another aspect of the invention is directed to a display screen in awagering game that can be changed based on various inputs by the player.For example, the player may touch the primary display 14 with theplayer's finger to reveal a rainbow or other items. The player may alsotouch the primary display 14 to change, e.g., the background and/or logoof the wagering game.

FIGS. 3A-3F illustrate various game screens displayed on the primarydisplay 14 for a wagering game according to an embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 3A illustrates a slot wagering game displayed on theprimary display 14. As shown, the slot wagering game includes fivesymbol-bearing reels, 100, 105, 110, 115, and 120. In other embodiments,more or fewer than five symbol-bearing reels 100, 105, 110, 115, and 120may be utilized. Three symbols are visible on each of the symbol-bearingreels 100, 105, 110, 115, and 120, respectively. In other embodiments,more or fewer than three symbols are visible on each of thesymbol-bearing reels 100, 105, 110, 115, and 120. In this embodiment, acombination of at least three symbols on an active payline provides awinning outcome.

The basic wagering game includes a moveable-clover-snare symbol 125. Themoveable-clover-snare symbol 125 may, e.g., randomly move to differentsymbol locations on the reels while the reels are spinning. In the eventthat the moveable-clover-snare symbol 125 comes to rest on a “Lucky”symbol 130, a bonus game called the “Lucky” bonus game is triggered.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, an animation associated with the “Lucky”bonus game is displayed on the primary display 14 and the reels 100,105, 110, 115, and 120 and the rest of foreground that was displayed inFIG. 3A is dimmed and becomes the background of the “Lucky” bonus gamedisplayed in FIG. 3B. In some embodiments, a dimming of the foregroundof FIG. 3A is not required.

The “Lucky” bonus game includes several elements that are displayed onthe primary display 14. These elements are effectively superimposed on“top” of elements of the dimmed basic game. A person of skill in the artwould realize that the elements of both the basic and the “Lucky” bonusgame are displayed on the display 14 at the same time. However, becauseof the dimming of the elements of the basic game, the elements of thebonus game appear to be placed on “top” of, or superimposed on, theelements of the basic game.

The elements of the “Lucky” bonus may be displayed with standard colorsand contrasts so that they are distinguishable from the dimmedbackground. Accordingly, both the elements of the “Lucky” bonus game andthe elements of the basic game (e.g., moveable reels 100, 105, 110, 115,and 120) are simultaneously displayed on the display 14, but the playercan perceive which elements are part of the “Getting' Lucky” bonusbecause the elements that are part of the basic game are dimmed.However, aside from the dimming, the elements of the basic game are notaltered in any other way. Accordingly, this provides the player with anexciting way of viewing a bonus game.

Preferably, the elements of the bonus game are incrementally displayedon the primary display 14, as discussed below. In other words, in theevent that the bonus game includes, e.g., ten different displayedelements, each element may be added one-at-a-time (or two-at-a-time,etc.) onto the primary display 14 to provide the player with a feelingas though the bonus game is being built on top of the elements of thebasic game.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the “Lucky” symbol 130 that was located at the samesymbol position as the moveable clover snare symbol 125 in FIG. 3A is“pulled” or released from the moveable clover snare 125, and a large“Lucky” symbol 140 is subsequently shown in an area near the center ofthe primary display 14. Next, a rainbow symbol 145 appears and the large“Lucky” symbol 140 leaps up toward the top of the primary display 14, asshown in FIG. 3C. The “Lucky” symbol 130 may then move about the primarydisplay 14.

A tree limb symbol 150 is subsequently displayed on, for example, theleft-hand side of the primary display 14, as shown in FIG. 3D. The treelimb symbol may, for example, move onto the displayed game screen fromthe left-hand side of the primary display 14. The large “Lucky” symbol140 then jumps over onto the tree limb symbol 150.

Next, the large “Lucky” symbol 140 snaps his fingers and a stand 160(FIG. 3E) appears, moving up onto the game screen from the bottom of theprimary display 14. The stand 160 may be a multi-tiered stand onto whichseveral player-selectable elements are later displayed, as discussedbelow.

As shown in FIG. 3E, after the stand 160 has been moved to its finalposition, the large “Lucky” symbol 140 snaps his fingers again and afirst “pot of gold” symbol 170 appears at the top of the game screen andfloats down toward the stand 160, where it comes to rest. Four other“pot of gold” symbols 175, 180, 185, and 190, respectively, subsequentlyfloat down onto other positions on the stand 160, as shown in FIG. 3F.

After all of the “pot of gold” symbols 170, 175, 180, 185, and 190 havemoved onto the stand 160, the player is prompted to begin selecting fromamong the “pot of gold” symbols. In one embodiment, the player selectsone of the “pot of gold” symbols and receives an award associated with,or masked by, the selected “pot of gold” symbol and the “Lucky” bonusgame ends. In other embodiments, the player selects several “pot ofgold” symbols and accumulates awards associated with, or masked by, theselected “pot of gold” symbols. In yet other embodiments, the playercontinues selecting from the “pot of gold” symbols until a symbol isselected that is associated with a bonus-game-ending element that endsthe “Lucky” bonus game.

The “Lucky” bonus game described above provides an exciting and uniqueway of presenting bonus game play. Because the elements of the “Lucky”bonus game are incrementally superimposed or added on top of theelements of the basic game, the player's level of interest in thewagering game is maintained.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the player may changethe appearance of the basic game screen shown on the primary display 14of FIG. 3A by, for example, physically touching the touch screen 28 ofthe primary display 14.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the player may drag the player'sfinger 200 across the top of the touch screen 28, starting from theleft-hand side of the touch screen 28. Prior to touching the gamescreen, the portion of the screen that appears to be behind the mainreels may appear to be, for example, a wooden surface such as a lightcherry wood. However, once the player touches the touch screen 28 andbegins dragging the player's finger 200, a rainbow 205 is displayed, andthe rainbow 205 bends in the direction of where the player's finger 200has touched the touch screen 28. Once the player's finger 200 reachesthe right-hand side of the touch screen 28, or the player removes thefinger 200 from the surface of the touch screen 28, the rainbow 205stops growing.

As shown in FIG. 4B, if the player moves the finger 200 all the wayacross the touch screen 28, a full rainbow 205 will be displayed. Afterthe rainbow 205 is fully displayed, the rainbow 205 may remain displayeduntil the player touches the touch screen 28 again in a location wherethe rainbow 205 is displayed. Alternatively, the rainbow 205 fades outduring the next few spins of the reels.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate another embodiment of the invention where theplayer may change the logo banner of the wagering game. As shown in FIG.5A, the default logo banner 220 of the wagering game is displayed with abackground that has a wooden appearance. However, to maintain theplayer's interest, the wagering game permits the player to change thelogo banner 220 via a physical touch of, for example, the player'sfinger 200.

For example, the player may touch an area of the touch screen 28 at ornear where the logo banner 220 is located with the player's finger 200.The old logo banner 220 then begins to slide off the primary display 14,revealing a new logo banner 225 (FIG. 5B). As shown in FIG. 5B, thebackground of the new logo banner 225 may include images of clouds andthe sky. After the old logo banner 220 has completely slid off theprimary display 14, the clouds form the background of the new logobanner 225. The old logo banner 220 remains off of the primary display14 until the player touches the new banner logo 225 again or after a fewsubsequent spins of the reels.

Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplatedas falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, whichis set forth in the following claims.

1. A gaming machine comprising: a wager-input device for receiving awager from a player to play a wagering game, the wagering game includinga basic game and a bonus game; and a display for initially displayingfirst indicia of the basic game, the first indicia indicating a randomlyselected outcome selected from a plurality of outcomes; wherein inresponse to the randomly selected outcome including abonus-game-triggering event, second indicia of the bonus game areincrementally superimposed on the first indicia on the display.
 2. Thegaming machine of claim 1, wherein a color of the first indicia isdimmed in response to the bonus-game-triggering event.
 3. The gamingmachine of claim 1, wherein in response to the randomly selected outcomeincluding the bonus-game-triggering event, the second indicia areincrementally displayed, one-at-a-time, to create a bonus game scene. 4.The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the second indicia include aplurality of player-selectable elements, at least one of theplayer-selectable elements masking an award.
 5. The gaming machine ofclaim 1, wherein the basic game is a slot wagering game with a pluralityof reels.
 6. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the basic gameincludes a moveable indicator, the moveable indicator providing thebonus-game-triggering event in response to the moveable indicatorstopping on a certain symbol of the first indicia.
 7. The gaming machineof claim 1, wherein the first indicia remain stationary during theincremental superimposing of the second indicia.
 8. A method ofconducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, the method comprising:receiving a wager from a player to play the wagering game, the wageringgame including a basic game and a bonus game; initially displaying firstindicia of the basic game, the first indicia indicating a randomlyselected outcome selected from a plurality of outcomes; in response to abonus-game-triggering event being achieved, incrementally superimposingsecond indicia of the bonus game on the first indicia on the displaysuch that at least some of the first indicia are visible.
 9. The methodof claim 8, further including dimming a color of the first images inresponse to the bonus-game-triggering-event.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the incrementally superimposing step includes incrementallydisplaying the second indicia, one-at-a-time, to create a bonus gamescene.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the second indicia include aplurality of player-selectable elements, at least one of theplayer-selectable elements masking an award.
 12. The method of claim 8,further including animating one symbol of the first indicia of the basicgame, the one symbol becoming a symbol of the displayed second indiciaof the bonus game.
 13. A computer readable storage medium encoded withinstructions for directing a gaming device to perform the method ofclaim
 8. 14. A gaming system for playing a wagering game, comprising: atleast one display; and a controller coupled to the display andprogrammed to cause the display to initially display first images of abasic game, the first images indicating a randomly selected outcomeselected from a plurality of outcomes; in response to abonus-game-triggering-event, incrementally display second images of abonus game, dim the first images, and overlay the second images over thefirst images, wherein the second images are brighter than the first setof images.
 15. The gaming system of claim 14, wherein the display andthe controller are both located within a gaming machine.
 16. The gamingsystem of claim 14, wherein the display is located within a gamingmachine and the controller is located outside of the gaming machine. 17.The gaming system of claim 14, wherein a color of the first images isdimmed in response to the bonus-game-triggering event.
 18. The gamingsystem of claim 14, wherein in response to the bonus-game-triggeringevent, the second images are incrementally displayed, one-at-a-time, tocreate a bonus game scene.
 19. The gaming system of claim 14, whereinthe second images include a plurality of player-selectable elements, atleast one of the player-selectable elements masking an award.
 20. Thegaming system of claim 14, the controller being further programmed toanimate at least one symbol of the first images of the basic game, theat least one symbol becoming a symbol of the displayed second images ofthe bonus game.